3 July 2003
African Refugees and Health
Health professionals who arrive in New Zealand as refugees should be assisted to retrain to meet the requirements of New
Zealand Medical, Nursing and Midwifery registration Boards.
Refugee Community Health Liaison Officer for the Auckland Regional Public Health Service Adem Bedasso told the Public
Health Association conference in Ngaruawahia today that there is also a case giving African trained health professionals
limited rights to practise medicine within their own communities and under supervision.
Mr Bedasso says there are more than 20,000 Africans living in New Zealand, but these people speak about 20 different
languages and there is a lack of readily available interpretation services. Many African refugees do not understand the
health care system in this country and have little understanding about the role or training of New Zealand primary
health care workers, he says.
Mr Bedasso, along with community health worker Mahad Warsame and health coordinator Annette Mortensen told the Public
Health Association conference in Ngaruawahia that doctors from refugee-backgrounds are currently unable to access the
migrant doctor retraining scheme. There are a significant number of African-trained health professionals such as
doctors, midwives and nurses living in New Zealand who cannot register with the Medical, Council or the New Zealand
Nursing Council and cannot practice, Mr Bedasso says.
"This is a common concern and issues in this matter for all refugees in New Zealand."
However, Mr. Bedasso says the Medical Council has stated that provisions in the Health Practitioners Competence Bill,
which is currently before Parliament, will allow more flexibility for registering overseas trained doctors. He believes
there is a case for African-trained health professionals to be given a limited scope of practice to work with their own
communities, as well as being given help to meet registration board requirements.
Some of these health professionals, who cannot gain registration, have been employed as community workers to support the
work of New Zealand health professionals. He says some African migrant health professionals from commonwealth countries
and those who achieved the health qualification in New Zealand are practising in their health profession in the public
hospitals.
"This shows the retraining actually works and enables them to be productive in contributing to New Zealand economy,
social capital and adds the diversity to the health profession in New Zealand."
One option would be scholarships and the provision of transitional programmes to allow refugee health professionals to
practise within mainstream health services to improve access and the culturally appropriate provision of care to people
from refugee backgrounds, Mr Bedasso says.
Communication barriers between refugees and mainstream health services pose significant problems especially in the
mental health area, Mr Bedasso says.
"Few New Zealand health professionals are aware of African attitudes towards mental health, which can result in people
being unwilling to marry into families where there has been a diagnosis of mental illness."
Refugee health clinics, staffed by health professionals from diverse background are a common practice in other countries
such as the United States, he says.
ENDS